Jaya demands resignation of Raja on spectrum issue

Published: Tuesday, November 25, 2008, 16:42 [IST]

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Chennai, Nov 25 (UNI) All India Anna DMK (AIADMK) General Secretary J Jayalalithaa today demanded that Communications Minister A Raja step down and subject himself to a probe in the spectrum allocation scam.

In a statement here, she said as Mr Raja has been charged with having allotted 2G Spectrum for mobile services on a first-come-first-served basis rather than going for a global auction, he should submit himself to a probe.

The Union Minister was also charged with having allotted spectrum in excess of the stipulated 6.2 Megahertz, she said, adding Mr Raja could not escape by claiming that he had only followed the practice adopted by his predecessor in the spectrum allocation.

''This is not much of a justification considering that the predecessor (Mr Dayanidhi Maran) in question was also a DMK nominee,'' she said.

Ms Jayalalithaa said the Central Vigilance Commission(CVC) had also questioned the Department of Telecom's motives for refusing to auction 2G mobile spectrum.

It has also asked why the Department of Telecom had allotted beyond the cumulative, maximum spectrum of 6.2 MHz. Further, the Delhi High Court has admitted a Public Interest Litigation(PIL) against the spectrum allocation, she said.

Stating that it was amusing that Mr Raja had said that he was prepared to resign if he was proved guilty, she said ''where is the question of Mr Raja's resignation, if he is genuine. He should first resign and submit himself to a probe.'' According to current estimates, India had suffered a loss of over Rs 60,000 crore in this one deal, she alleged.